Souphanouvong

Prince Souphanouvong (13 July 1909-9 January 1995) was President of Laos from 2 December 1975 to 31 October 1986, preceding Phoumi Vongvichit. Along with Souvanna Phouma and Boun Oum, he was one of the "Three Princes", and his communist sympathies earned him the nickname "the Red Prince".

Biography
Souphanouvong was born on 13 July 1909 in Luang Prabang, and he was educated in France and Vietnam. In 1950, he was present at the first congress of the Pathet Lao, and Souphanouvong became a communist sympathizer, admiring Ho Chi Minh. During the Vietnam War, the Laotian Civil War broke out, and Souphanouvong's Pathet Lao found themselves allying with the Vietnamese communist Viet Cong guerrillas and North Vietnam against the Kingdom of Laos. Souphanouvong became President of Laos on 2 December 1975 after the Pathet Lao seized power, but in 1986 Phoumi Vongvichit would become acting president and remain so until 1991, when Souphanouvong was officially succeeded by Kaysone Phomvihane. He died in 1995 at the age of 86.